The present application relates to a semiconductor structure and a method of forming the same. More particularly, the present application relates to an optical interconnect that includes a waveguide core material portion that is completely surrounded by a dielectric oxide-containing cladding structure which includes dielectric oxide-containing end portions that have sidewall surfaces that are configured to receive and transmit light.
The semiconductor industry has been driven by Moore's law, with transistors per chip (and thus computational power per dollar) roughly doubling every year. However, limitations are being approached that fall beyond the transistor design. For example, interconnect bandwith, e.g., for I/O and clock distribution, is one major source of uncertainty for higher performance computer systems. The reason for this is that electrical interconnects do not scale at the same rate as transistors as their dimensions are shrunk, resulting in a decrease in the reach for faster interconnects.
Optical interconnects have been proposed as an alternative for copper-based interconnects for both on-chip and off-chip applications. Notably, optical interconnects can offer significant advantages over electrical circuitry in the field of advanced microelectronics. One possible implementation of an optical interconnect is based on silicon-on-insulator (SOI) technology, in which optical waveguides are formed on the same thin silicon layer as other complimentary-metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) circuit elements (e.g., field effect transistors (FETs), capacitors, resistors, etc.). Light sources produce optical signals (e.g., light pulses) that propagate in these optical waveguides. Photodetectors convert the optical signals into electrical signals.
Despite the development of optical interconnects that are based on silicon-on-insulator (SOI) technology, there is need to provide an alternative optical interconnect that can be used as a replacement for copper-based interconnects.